Another School Year Has Come and Gone

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Another School Year Has Come and Gone
Honestly, where does the time go? It seems like yesterday my family and I were running around trying to get everything ready for school to start. Now, here we are, ending another school year while preparing for a new summer season. 
 
While I always have a tendency to feel that the year went by so quickly, this year is hitting me a little differently. Perhaps it is because the upcoming school year is going to be a big one for the Deal household. Not only will our youngest child be starting school full-time as a pre-k student, but also our oldest daughter is going to be entering her senior year of high school. Yes, her SENIOR year. (Here come the waterworks.)
 
We haven’t even entered the 2019-2020 school year and yet the anxiety is already kicking in with graduation photos, college tours, pre-k immunizations, graduation invites, college decisions, and so forth and so on. I can feel the anxiety as I type these words, which is why I really want to reflect on this past school year so I can make the most of the next, especially since it is a big milestone year for our children. 

Fixing the Priorities

I really need to focus on my time management skills so that more quality time is left for my children. I know working is helping them, as they need money for extra-curricular activities, but because I have a tendency to want to provide as much as I can, I get stuck in work mode. I don’t even like admitting this to myself — let alone you all — but I am not as present as I need to be.
 
While I work hard to help pay for my step-daughters’ cheerleading, I have only been to a few games. While I work hard to pay for my son’s soccer, I am quick to let my husband take him so I can work. So while I feel like I am doing the right thing to provide, I am not being present. And now, especially with my oldest stepping into her senior year, the clock is really ticking on the “next year I will be better” notion.

We truly are to the point of now or never. 

I know I am not alone when it comes to the mom guilt, but boy, does it make you feel as though you are alone. So, I really am trying to do better at setting “work hours,” “family hours,” “me hours,” etc. If you have any advice, I welcome it all — as I am really trying to be better so that my children look back and see that I wasn’t just there for them financially, but also emotionally and physically.

Being a “Yes” Summer Mom

This doesn’t mean my teenagers can ask for no curfew; that will always be a no. But I do have a tendency to hold myself back from having fun with my children because of my own insecurities (aka, my weight) and, again, my work. If they want to go on rides, I will take them, but not ride. If they want to go swimming, I will watch from the side of the pool. Once again, I am not really being present. And, as I said before, the clock is ticking when it comes to the time I have left with my children, so I am going to be better about making time for fun this summer and making memories with my children.
 
Whether it’s actually swimming with them, taking them to a summer movie, going for a walk, or fighting my fear and going on a ride, I know there are many ways in which I can try to be more present with them this summer. Therefore, I am going to work my hardest to once again manage my time better so that I feel I am giving every area of my life 100 percent of myself rather than what I feel like I am doing, which is basically treading water in all areas of life.
 

How are you going to be a more present mom? We are in this together and we are here to support one another! Let us not let our own insecurities hold us back from making incredible memories with our children. Life is too short for regrets.